SPIRITUAL HEALING

Spiritual Healing is where Death begin to add technicality to the mix. The songs are stillThe first two outings were straight-forward, genre-defining albums that pioneered death metal. Now, the emergence of bands like Morbid Angel sparked a change in Chuck's direction. His lineup stayed the same except for Rozz leaving to be replaced by extreme guitar wizard James Murphy. His dazzling fretwork adds a new level of talent to the band.

The songs are still very much straightforward, but the tempos are beginning to change from aural blitzkriegs to mid tempo chugs. Murphy and Schuldiner work well together, but not as well as Chuck works with later guitarists like Shannon Hamm.

As I've said before, fans of Chuck should own every studio album by him, and this is no exception. Hardcore proggies should probably stay away from this and start with the next album, the excellent Human.

Grade: D+